Georgia in Flames

For those who would like to know more about Georgian - Russian conflict in brief:

"Documentary movie 'Georgia in Flames' is about the Russia-Georgia conflict. This 15 minute film gives a factual overview of how the conflict developed over decades and why it resulted in August 2008 war. It gives an account of the military conflict and encourages the viewer to think about the underlying reasons and interests that serve as a basis for such conflicts not only in Georgia but anywhere in the world."

http://www.georgiainflames.com/

Conservatism versus Liberalism in brief

I was brought up in liberalistic spirit and I am getting more and more conservative every day :)

ETHNIC RIGHTS IN TURKEY AND THE EU ACCESSION TALKS

“As long as the Kurds are not acknowledged in Turkey, as long as they are excluded from constitutional recognition and viewed by the state essentially as unassimilated Turks, EU accession will prove little more than an unfulfilled promise”(Yildiz, Kerim 2005: 32).

The republic of Turkey has been put into extremely advantage strategic position with regard to European Union. The deal which governs new gas supplies for Europe was singed on 13 July. Nabucco gas pipeline could be considered as a revival of EU accession talks. Although in comparison with the EU Human Rights policy, Human Rights in Turkey are in a catastrophic condition.

EU’s bilateral relations are strongly based on the topic of Human Rights. Article Eleven of the Treaty on European Union defines the main issues of the EU’s Common Foreign Policy which points out “respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms” (European Commission External Relations 2009). The mentioned catastrophic state of minorities’ Human Rights (especially Kurdish and Assyrian) could appear as the main obstruction in the EU accession talks.

The current constitution of Turkey was ratified in 1982. The Constitution had taken shape in the atmosphere of the military junta. Then atmosphere could be characterised by the growing scale of violence, economical and social problems. It resulted into Constitution which is being criticized all the time. The influence of the military, restricted freedom of human rights and last but not least ethnic rights are the most discussed issues in the field of fundamental Human Rights. Especially ethnic rights are being downtrodden. The only accepted minorities are Armenians, Greeks and Jews. They are the only minorities, whose ethnic rights could be recognized. The spirit of ‘Turkishness’ based on citizenship is another example of downtrodden area. Moreover Article Three of the Constitution gives privilege role to Turkish language, which is the first language that could be taught at school (The exact percentage of ethnic group living in Turkey cannot be found (or isn’t translated into English). But it is said that the Kurds create a 20% minority group (about 14 million people).

New amendments governing ethic rights have been agreed in recent years. But people who live in the south-eastern part of Turkey (so called ‘Kurdistan’) have not noticed lots of changes yet. They cannot officially tie together their grandfathers’ customs. Common and sad phenomenon is the social discrimination of Kurdish minority on the side of Turkish major ethnic group. New amendments were ratified, but they have been applied only in some (mostly not so important) areas.

Fortunately the obsolete Constitution has been already started changing. Secularization is not enough to enter the EU. If Turkey wants to enter it has to accept European ‘religion’- humanism which includes the holiness of Human Rights.

Sources:

Yildiz, Kerim. 2005. The Kurds in Turkey: EU Accession and Human Rights. Pluto Press.

European Commission External Relations: Promotion of Human Rights and Democratisation in the EU’s External Relations. 2009. (http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/human_rights/index_en.htm).

Trend News: It is time to change Turkish constitution. 2009. (http://news-en.trend.az/world/turkey/1504018.html).

Minority Rights Group International. 2007. A Quest for Equality: Minorities in Turkey. (www.avrupa.info.tr/Files/MRGTurkeyReport%5B1%5D.pdf).

The Constitution of the Republic of Turkey. 2001. (www.anayasa.gov.tr/.../THE_CONSTITUTION_OF_THE_REPUBLIC_OF_TURKEY.pdf).